Manufacture of rail-braces



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

0. ALKINS.

MANUFACTURE OF RAIL BRAGES. No. 352,286. l atented Nov. 9, 1886.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. C. ALKINS.

MANUFACTURE OF RAIL BRAOES.

No. 352,286. Patented N0v.-9, 1886.

' llNirnD STATES PATENT @rricn.

CHARLES ALKINS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MANUFACTURE OF RAIL-BRA'CES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 352,286, dated November 9, 1886.

Application tiled August 10, 1886. Serial No. 210,510. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES ALKINS, a citizen of the United States, residing atOhicago, in the county of (look and State of Illinois have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in the Manufacture of Rail-Braces, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the manufacture of rail-braces which are employed for the purpose of bracing the rails of arailroad, particularly at frogs or switches, or at points where bends or curves occur in the road. These braces are usually constructed with a base portion adapted to be spiked down upon a cross-tie or other appropriate bed, and with an abutment rising from said base portion and adapted to fit against the rail: Prior to my invention railbraces of such character have been formed of cast metal, the abutment being necessarily castsolid, in order to insure the requisite strength and durability.

The objects of my invention are, first, to produce. at a reduced cost and in a more convenient way a rail-brace possessing in a high degree both strength and durability, and involving all of the advantages without the disadvantages of the old construction of railbraces; second, to rapidly and economically produce a rail-brace possessing all of the necessary features of strength, durability, and adaptability to its destined purpose, and at the same time involving the employment of considerably less metal than in the old construction of brace, whereby a saving in material is effected and the cost of production lessened, without weakeningor otherwise detracting from the serviceability.of the brace; third, to effect a considerablelessening of the time and laborheretofore incident to the manu-v facture of rail-braces, thereby reducing the cost of their manufacture and permitting large orders to be filled rapidly.

In carrying out my invention the, rail-brace is stamped and struck up by dies from ablank of wrought or'malleable iron or steel in a manner to convert the blank into a suitable base provided with a hollow abutment adapted toengage the rail in order to effectively brace the same. As will be hereinafter seen, the blanks can be sheared from a strip or oblong plate without loss of material, and the said blanks then out or trimmed so as to shape them with reference to the desired ultimate shape of the abutting end or face of the hollow abutment, and to the particular way in which it is desired said hollow abutment shall bear against or engage the rail. It will be obvious that in the production of said braces considerably less time and labor will be involved than in .the production of the old brace of cast metal, particularly for the reason that the provision of molds forforming the casting is renderedunuecessary, and that said braces will be lighter and more economical than the old construction of cast-metal railbrace, on account of the savingeffectedin the material of which the brace is formed.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 represents a metal strip or plate, which may be cut or sheared along the lines 1 1, in order to pro said blanks cutaway at the corners of its wider end. Fig. 3 represents in perspective a railbrace struck up from the blank of Fig. 2. Fig.

- 4 represents the blank of Fig. 2.notched at its wider end. Fig. 5 represents in perspective the rail-brace struck up from theblank of Fig. 4. Fig.' 6 is a side elevation of the rail-brace of Fig. 5 applied to arail,which latteris shown in cross-section. Fig. 7 represents a section on line 90 00, Fig. 6, with the rail principally -shown in side elevation. Fig. 8 shows in side elevation the brace of Fig. 3 applied to a rail, which latter is shown in cross-section.

The length of the blank is conveniently determined by thewidth of the plate or strip, which is sheared along lines 1 oblique to its length and alternately converging and diverging toward one of the side edges of said plate or -strip,whereby each blank gradually widens from one end to the other. This widening up of the blank toward one end is desirable, in order to provide material for the formation of the hollow abutment, whereby after the forma-' tion of said hollow abutment the base portion of the brace will have a rectangular or proximately rectangular shape, the material in excess of the rectangular shape prior to the subjection of the blank to the dies being taken up in the formation of the hollow abutment. After the blank has been formed as indicated in Fig. 1 it can be cut at its wider end with reference to the desired ultimate shape of that portion of the brace which is designed to bear against or engage'the rail. A desirable mode of thus shaping or trimming the blank is illustrated in Fig. 2, wherein the two corner portions at the widest end of the blank are cut or trimmed off, as at'2 2. In order to produce from the said blank a rail-brace, it is subjected to the action of dies, which operate to strike up its wider end portion, so as to form the hollow abutment 3, which rises from the base portion at and stands intermediate of the two longer side edges, 5, of said base, in order to leave at each side of the abutment a base-flange, 6, consisting of a portion of the width of the base. By previously shearing off the two aforesaid corners of the blank the front end edge portions, 2, of the base diverge outwardly toward the rear end of the brace, sothat when the brace is applied they will lie oblique to the length of therail. This feature permits the abutting end of the brace to be set sufficiently close up to the rail, itbeingobserved that by reason of the inclination of the upper side of the base of the rail B the brace, if made from a squared blank, would at its base strike the rail-base too near the edge of thelatter. Each one of said base,portions 6 of the base is at-an appropriate point in its length formed with a bend,7,corresponding to the transverse curvatures of the base of the rail, in order that this end portion of the brace may fit the said railbase, as in Fig. 8, wherein the rail B is shown in cross-section with the brace of Fig. 3 applied. In said Fig. 8 the brace shown in perspective in Fig. 3 is shown with the top portion of its hollow abutment fitted against the under side of the tread b of the rail, in which way the brace can be wedged between the tread b and base I) of a railroad-rail. That portion of the brace which is presented to the rail may be and is herein, for convenience, termed its front or face end. The hollow abutment is arched or substantially V- shaped in cross-section,'and has its highest point at the front end of the brace, from which said point the top and side walls of the hollow abutment incline downwardly, so as to gradually decrease in height toward the rear end portion of the brace, the rear termination of the abutment being desirably between thetwo ends of base of the brace,substantially as shown. The bends 7 in the brace form shoulders which fit upon the base of the rail, while the highest portion of the hollow abutment serves as a shoulder which abuts and bends against the under side of the tread, thus permitting the brace to be firmly wedged in between said two portions of the rail. It will be observed in said Fig. 3 that the base is rectangularin outline, the reduction in width of the wider portion of the blank of Fig. 2 being due to the formation of the hollow abutment, which,when the blank is struck up, takes up all material previously found in the extra width of the blank.

In Fig. 4 the blank A is shown formed simi larly to the blank of Fig. 2, but has a segmental or semicircular shaped portion re moved from its widest end, so as to provide between its two oblique edge portions 2 a semicircular notch, 8. When this form of blank is struck up by the dies, so as to formthehollow abutment 3, Figs. 5, 6, and 7, said abutment, while similar in other respects to that of Fig. 3, will at its highest front end have a curve or vconcavity, -9, which matches and receives a portion of the tread b of the rail, as in Figs. 6 and 7, wherein the brace fits the base b of the rail, while its abutment fils the side edge portion of the same.

It is understood that the metal blanks could be struck up to form hollow abutments'varying in shape from those herein shown, and that the blanks can be composed of either steel or wrought or malleable iron. The form of blanks herein shown is, however, particularly well adapted for the purpose, and the shape of the abutment is especially desirable, since the material is utilized in a most economical manner, and anexceedingly strong and at the same time comparatively light railbrace produced.

The base portion of the brace will be provided with any suitable arrangement of notch or notches and holes for the spikes by which the brace is to be secured in place, said notch and holes being conveniently formed by the dies simultaneously with the operation of striking up the hollow abutment and otherwise shaping the brace to the contour of a rail.

In conclusion, it may be observed that the dies serve to strike up the blank between its two side edges for a certain portion of the length of its wider end, in which way. the width of the blank at said wider end aflords ample material to form an abutment of sufficient height at its front end. The abutment,-being of substantially inverted-V shape, is exceedingly strong, since it is arched in cross-section and united with a large portion of the base 4.

hat I claim as my inventionis 1. The improvement in the art of manufacturing rail-braces consisting in striking up a metal blank into a hollow abutment rising from a base,with its front or abutting end and said base shaped to the portions of the rail against which the brace is to bear, substantially as described.

2. The improvement in the art of manufac' turing rail-braces consistingin striking up between the two opposite side edges and at one end portion of a metal blank a hollow abutment, with its front or abutting end shaped to the portions of the rail against which it is to bear, substantially as described.

3. The improvement in the art of manufacturing rail-braces consisting in forming an oblong metal blank widening toward one end, and

striking up a length of the wider end portion of said blank into a hollow abutment, with its front or abutting end and the material left as a base shaped to the portions of the rail against which the brace is to bear, substantially as described.

The improvement in the art of manufacturing rail-braces consisting in forming an oblong metal blank, A, widening toward one end, shearing or cutting off the corners at'its wider end, as at 2 2, and striking up said blank into a hollow abutment, 3, rising from a base, substantially as described. V

5. The improvement in the art of manufacturing rail-braces consisting in forming the blank A, cutting the same to form a notch, substantially as described, in one of its ends, and striking up said blank into an abutment, 3, rising from a base, and at its highest point shaped to the curvature'of the edge portion of the tread of a rail, substantially as set forth.

6. The blank A for a rail-brace,widening toward one end, substantially as described.

7. The blank A for a rail-braee,widening toward one end and cut away at the corners of its wider end, as at 2 2, substantially as described.

8. The blank A- for arail-brace,widening toward one end and notched at its widest end, as at 8, substantially as described.

9. A struck-up metal rail-brace having a hollow abutment rising from a base, substantially as described.

10. The struck-up metal rail-brace formed with the hollow abutment 3, rising from abase, at, substantially as described.

11. The struck-up metal rail-brace formed with the hollow abutment 3, provided with a concavity, 9, and rising from a base, substantially as described.

CHARLES ALKINS.

Witnesses:

CHAS. G. PAGE, L. S. LOGAN. 

